Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department are taking to reduce waiting times for young people waiting for an (a) Autism and (b) ADHD diagnosis; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
This specific assessment has not been made. We expect integrated care boards to have due regard to relevant best practice guidelines when commissioning autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) services for children and young people.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends a maximum waiting time of 13 weeks between a referral for an autism assessment and a first appointment. While we want every area to meet NICE guidance, we recognise that this is not happening everywhere. NHS England publish quarterly data on how many people are waiting for an autism assessment, and for how long, by local area. The data provides useful information to support local areas to identify and manage local demand.
We are investing £2.5 million in 2022/2023 to test and embed improved autism diagnostic pathways. NHS England will publish in due course a national framework to support partners in local areas to commission and deliver autism assessment services for children, young people and adults. The aim of the framework is to improve access to and the quality of these assessment processes, reduce the time that people wait for an assessment, as well as improving consistency of support for people while they wait for an autism assessment or after they are diagnosed, including mental health and peer support.
With regard to ADHD, while NICE does not recommend a maximum waiting time standard from referral for an assessment of ADHD to the point of diagnosis, a diagnosis of ADHD should be made as soon as possible. In a recent Westminster Hall debate on 1 February 2023, I committed to look at how we can improve data on ADHD assessment waiting times, to help improve access to ADHD assessments in a timely way and in line with the NICE guideline on ADHD.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to provide cancer vaccines to patients through the NHS; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Life Sciences Vision’s Healthcare Mission on Cancer will support the development of new immunological interventions for cancer. In partnership with Genomics England, NHS England is developing plans for a Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad, which will help determine which cancer patients might be eligible for cancer vaccine trials. The Launch Pad will aim to support trials into vaccines across multiple types of cancer, with trials starting as early as autumn 2023.
The Government is also working closely with the life sciences sector to bring innovative cancer therapies to National Health Service patients. In January, a partnership was announced with BioNTech which will accelerate clinical trials of personalised mRNA therapies, like cancer vaccines.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing Optune on the NHS for the treatment of brain cancer; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the guidelines on primary brain tumours and brain metastases in adults published in July 2018, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends that tumour-treating fields, such as Optune, should not be offered as part of management of a newly diagnosed grade IV glioma or as part of management of recurrent high-grade glioma.
These recommendations are based on an assessment of the available evidence on clinical and cost effectiveness.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) increase awareness of and (b) improve access to the Cancer Drugs Fund; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) appraises all newly licensed medicines and since 2016, has been able to recommend drugs for use within the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) where there is too much uncertainty to be able to recommend routine funding. For those drugs that receive this recommendation, the fund supports patient access while further real-world evidence is collected that informs a final recommendation by NICE on routine commissioning.
The CDF has helped many thousands of National Health Service patients to benefit from promising new medicines that would otherwise not be available to them. As of February 2023, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has made 52 CDF recommendations, 24 of which have had guidance updated following a period of managed access, with 92% recommended for routine funding.
The Innovative Medicines Fund, launched in June 2022, builds on the successful Cancer Drugs Fund model and will support patient access to the most promising new medicines for all patients, not just those with cancer, faster than ever before.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the accuracy of the prostate-specific antigen testing programmes; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No recent assessment has been made. In October 2022, the National Health Service published a ‘Best Practice Timed Pathway’ for suspected prostate cancer. This sets out guidance on the use of mpMRI prior to biopsy to improve the detection accuracy of clinically significant cancer and reduce the risk of unnecessary biopsy.
In the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline on suspected cancer, NICE made a research recommendation on the diagnostic accuracy of prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing. A number of recommendations in the guideline on prostate cancer refer to PSA levels.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to implement an autism dashboard that would show the number of people waiting for an Autism diagnosis; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
NHS England publish the Autism Diagnostic Waiting Times Statistics, including an interactive dashboard, that shows the number of people waiting for an autism assessment. The NHS England Learning Disability and Autism programme team are working to support data quality improvements engaging with regional colleagues and system providers.
Based on the latest available data in the Mental Health Data Set, published in December 2022, the total number of people with an open referral for an autism assessment was 125,109 in July 2022. Of these patients, 105,622 patients have been waiting for at least 13 weeks.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the Autism strategy implementation plan for the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Rt hon. Member for South Swindon on the 3 February 2023 to Question 135349.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he last held discussions with representatives of Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on the level of delayed discharges in that Trust; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Secretary of State has not held discussions with representatives of Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on the level of delayed discharges in that trust. Minister Caulfield met with the Chief Executive Officer and Chair of Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board on 20 December 2022 and discussed a range of subjects including delayed discharge.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the average time children under 11 wait for a completed assessment with the Autism Assessment Service (a) nationally and (b) in Gloucestershire; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
There are no current plans to make a specific assessment.
However, the Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS) shows that in the year from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022 in England, the median waiting time for patients aged under 11 years old, with an open referral for suspected autism to receive a first contact appointment was 251 days. We are unable to provide the average waiting time for Gloucestershire in this period as there were less than five open referrals.
NHS England South West is working closely with regional integrated care boards (ICBs) and NHS England National team to improve the data collection of autism diagnosis waits. In addition, NHS England South West continues to work with regional ICBs to support the improvement of autism diagnosis and waiting times for children, young people and adults supported with a regional investment of £1.68 million over three years.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the relationship between the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing Access and the delivery of the Life Sciences Vision; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
I refer the hon. Member to the answers given on 9 January 2023 to Question 113161, 113162, 113178.